Love, Hold Us Together
by ProtegoMaximaMyHeart
Summary: Sequel to Two Gingerbread Lattes, Please. Valentine's Day wasn't Molly's area until now. Mostly Mollstrade, with Molly/Rory friendship, brief mention of Johnlock.


Disclaimer: I don't own Sherlock or Doctor Who. But I own Molly and Lestrade's siblings!

**A/N: Since there isn't enough Mollstrade, here's the third story in my Mollstrade series that revolves around holidays! And because Sherlock and Doctor Who were made to be together, I bring you my first Wholock (and crossover ever). The title refers to the song, "Love, Save the Empty", by Erin McCarley. It's kind of about how Molly has gone through all these motions in love and sees other events unfold in front of her, like in the song. **

Valentine's Day…or in other words, just another Tuesday for Molly.

Sure, things were going in a smoother direction for her and Lestrade (whom she started addressing by his first name), but they were still wobbling on that line between being friends and more. Still, it was too early on in their relationship, whatever it was, to make any extravagant plans for the holiday. To her surprise, she got let off early. Evidently when love is in the air, it means less corpses to have to spend a hot date with. She knew that Lestrade was still busy wrapping up a homicide case, so she walked to Hyde Park after work until she heard from him.

Even though it was a bit nippy outside, the sunshine just called to her. There were multiple couples that were walking around the park, seemingly inundated with the spirit of Valentine's Day. For her, the novelty wore off once she entered university. She longed for the innocent days of the holiday, where her and her primary school classmates exchanged kitschy cards from the drugstore, stuffing them in each other's decorated shoeboxes.

As she walked around, she heard a voice drift through the air that made her stop in her tracks. She turned around to find the source and her eyes widened.

It was her old friend, Rory, from back in her early days at Barts.

Sure, they worked in totally different departments; she was in the mortuary and he was on the floor. It was a late night shift and they both slumped into the elevator. What started out as a rant about how exhausting these late nights were turned into coffee "dates" and eventually a close friendship. Apparently, Rory had a girlfriend, but she couldn't remember what her name was. He turned to Molly, bemoaning about how he was still awkward around this new girlfriend. Molly gave him a sympathetic pat, offering the best advice that she could. She also turned to him when things in her own relationship with a colleague had turned sour to the point that she didn't feel like a woman anymore, to put it delicately. It took a lot of restraining on her part to stop Rory from beating the living daylights out of that guy. Molly eventually broke it off with him, hoping that things would get better for her love life. As the years went by, she found out that she was wrong, but she kept her chin up. She confided in with Rory about her fears, and he assured her a guy would have to be an idiot not to recognize how fantastic she was.

When Rory suddenly disappeared, she was alarmed. She tried to get a hold of him to make sure he was okay. He eventually replied, only replying with, "Yeah, everything's fine. Don't worry Molly :)". It gave her some semblance of comfort, but it wasn't enough to dissuade her fears until now.

He was walking arm in arm with a pretty redhead. She had to admit that they looked lovely together. They were smiling and laughing hysterically, and Molly remembered why he was such a good friend. He was kind, funny, caring, and noble. Rory glanced in her direction and his grin widened. Molly froze, but waggled her fingers, a sheepish smile on her face. The couple walked over to her and Rory hugged her.

"Molly! How have you been?" He looked older, but not older in the sense that he was weary, but that he was wiser.

"I'm good. Just wandering around the park until my…friend calls me," she replied, the word "boyfriend" caught in her throat.

"Friend or _friend?"_ The redhead replied, a devious grin on her face.

"Er—"

"Oh, I am so sorry!" Rory smacked his forehead. "I forgot to introduce you two. Molly, this is my wife Amy. Amy, meet Molly; a friend from back in my early days at Barts."

Molly's eyes darted between the two of them and it hit her. Rory caught the dawning expression on her face and nodded. "Yes, this is the girl."

"Sorry?" Amy asked, confused.

"Well, Rory was really awkward about how to deal in being in a relationship with you. Apparently, he was **madly** in love with you since you were little and to finally be with you…well, it took a while for him to process it," Molly said, fighting the urge to giggle at this new development, "but he always came for me to advice. I'm glad I could help out."

Amy smiled. "Well, Rory really knows how to pick out some good friends."

"MOLLY!"

The trio turned around and there Lestrade was, jogging towards them.

Amy leaned in to her, whispering, "Is that him?"

She nodded.

Amy made a face of approval. "Nice."

"Sorry I'm late. Got tied up with paperwork," he said with an apologetic smile.

"Greg, don't even worry about it," she replied.

Molly hugged him and turned to the couple. "Greg, this is Rory and Amy, his wife. Rory's a friend from back in my early days at Barts." They all shook hands.

"Well, we best be off. Rory has a surprise for me, although I'm not sure whether I should be excited or worried…"

"Mmmm, maybe a little bit of both?"

"Good plan. I like your style."

"You can never be too careful with these things," she added with a wink.

Both couples parted ways with waves and several goodbyes. Molly and Lestrade continued on their way, making small talk.

"It's a lovely day, isn't it?" He asked, glancing at her every now and then, noting how the sun made her hair glow.

"It is," she replied with a smile.

They walked shoulder to shoulder, their fingers eventually lacing together. She would have been lying if she said that just the mere act of holding hands made her giddy like she was a schoolgirl. It was such a rush and nothing compared to what she had with previous boyfriends with Lestrade. Love was never on her side, as she tried to find that one person that could fill in that empty spot over and over, but with no luck. It seemed like the tides were turning in her favor and she hoped that things would stay that way.

"I never was a fan of Valentine's Day," she blurted without even thinking.

He turned to her. "Yeah? Why's that?"

"I mean, why do you need one day to declare your love for someone? There are 364 other days that I think work just as well. Sorry. I guess my bad string of relationships has given me a different outlook on the holiday."

"It's understandable. But you always seem to be so cheerful and yet you're kind of cynical too…" he trailed off.

"It's like one of those things that I can't really let anyone know. I just don't want people worrying about my problems."

"That's why I'm here, right? I mean, to be your friend…or more," he muttered the last part, his cheeks pink.

It was normal for her to stumble over her words when she was flustered, but today, it was worse. Her mouth kept moving, but somehow her brain wasn't catching up. He was such a sweet guy, but she wasn't sure that they were ready to take that next step. They had great chemistry and clicked really well, and yet something was still holding her back.

"Greg…"

"Er, well, I mean…dammit this wasn't how I wanted things to come out…" he stammered. It was probably just the spirit of Valentine's Day working its magic on him, making him say these things, but he knew that it was something more. He was really fond of her and knew that she felt the same way on some level, but he just wanted to be sure.

They stopped in the middle of the pathway and he turned her to face him. He looked really nervous, but gulped and went on with it.

"Look Molly. I don't know what I'm doing, and I don't even know where we stand, but I do know that I enjoy being with you. I don't care whether you want to be more than friends or not, but all I know is th—," he was interrupted when Molly kissed him, a bold move on her part.

"I don't know what I'm doing here either, but I like you too. A lot. In fact, I think I like you more than I've liked anyone else. You're charming, funny, handsome, kind, and caring," she said with a smile.

"So. I like you, you like me. What do we do?"

"Well, I suppose the next thing is to just let things run their course. That's what my sister's always told me. That and keep six toes on the ground, but that's another story," Molly added with a wink.

"Will I get to hear it?" Lestrade was curious.

"Maybe," she said wistfully.

"Oh! I got you something for Valentine's Day! It's not much, and it's probably a little bit childish, but I figured you would like it." He pulled out a small stuffed, but pudgy and fluffy, kitten from his pocket. "I remember reading your blog. You mentioned that you like Glee, so I thought that you could name it Lord Tubbington."

She laughed and kissed him on the cheek, putting the kitten in her shoulder bag. "This is very sweet. I got you something too. It's not much either, but this could come in handy when Sherlock drives you up the wall." She took out a Panic Pete stress toy from her bag. Lestrade laughed and squeezed it, snickering when its eyes and nose popped out. He kissed her on the forehead and wrapped his arm around her shoulder.

"I love it a lot. I think I'll get a really good use out of this," he said, shoving it in his pocket.

Molly held him around his waist, leaning in to him, content. "So, how should we spend the rest of the day?"

He scratched his head. "Well, there's this restaurant that my daughter and her friends have been raving. It's great for brunch. Want to go check it out?"

"Sure thing. Oh look! There's Sherlock and John," she said, pointing them out sitting on a bench in the distance.

Lestrade and Molly slowed down and hid behind a tree, giggling. It was like they were back in primary school, spying on their older siblings if they were going something naughty. Molly learned that Lestrade had an older brother, Andrew, who was quite the Casanova back in his day. Melinda was pretty much the same, spending almost every afternoon "studying" with a different "friend" in a secluded potion of the park by their house. Molly couldn't help it if her and her friends were playing there around the same time. They had their own little fort and played there, and took turns spying on Melinda, reporting news like they either secret agents or reporters on the telly.

"I swear those two are married," he whispered, peering around the edge of the tree. The two men were talking about something and Sherlock made some comment that made John giggle. He looked triumphant at this, and his smile faded to one that was almost tender looking. John wasn't even aware of it, drinking his coffee and glancing around the park. Lestrade felt like he was violating their privacy.

"You should see the way that Sherlock looks at John when he isn't looking. It's almost heartbreaking in a way," she sighed, leaning against the tree.

"You mean like right now?"

"Hmm?" She poked her head around the tree and clamped her hand over her mouth to not squeal. The look on Sherlock's face was too precious. "Huh. That's new."

"I think if anyone walked by, especially right now, they would definitely think that Sherlock and John were a couple. Just look at the way he's looking at him. If that doesn't scream 'I love you' from the rooftops, then I don't know what does," she added with a dreamy smile.

"We should probably let them have their alone time," he whispered, taking her hand. They started walking in the opposite direction of the men, heading towards the entrance to the park.

"Not that they don't have enough in their flat," she snickered.

"Molly Hooper! Are you implying what I think you're implying?" Lestrade said with mock shock.

She gave him a sidelong glance and threw on a wily smile. "Of course. Greg, anyone who has gone through puberty would make that assumption."

He grinned; Molly has become much more open and sassy in the time that he's known her.

"Lunch?"

"Starving."


End file.
